James Tanaka
General Information James Tanaka was a Dranian politician of the right-wing Grand National Party formerly serving as its deputy Chairman and having been Deputy Prime Minister of Dranland from 3402 to 3409. He also was Minister of Defence several times(3378-3381 and 3384-3393). Fron July 3409 to November 3416, he was President of Dranland. Life and Politics After a term in the military, where he earned the rank of a lieutenant colonel, from 3355 to 3365, Tanaka first entered politics when he won a seat in the federal Parliament for his hometown Soyolango. Seven years later, he succeeded Sosuke Mori, who would later go on to become President of Dranland, as the GNP's parliamentary group leader. Tanaka, who is of Kyo descent like his predecessor, is considered a social moderate with and staunch conservative on fiscal and economic issues, as can be seen by a comment he once made in an interview saying that "the welfare state inevitably leads to an erosion of moral integrity of the people". He is a faithful believer in Daenism and even once funded the establishment of a monastery for the Daenist/Kyo community in Magadonia. After successfully managing the GNP's electoral campaigns in 3374 and 3375, Tanaka was rewarded with the office of Minister of Defence in the three-way coalition of Prime Minister John Morrison (PP) that took power in May 3378. During his three years in office, his main aim was to legalize nuclear weapons in Drania, which he failed to receive a parliamentary majority for. After the replacement of the coalition in 3381, Tanaka's tenure as Minister ended as well. He then went on to become GNP deputy leader. Three years later, the returned to his Ministry as the right-wing alliance had won the elections. Despite his nine ensuing years in office, he failed to accomplish his highest aim, he re-introduction of nuclear weapons and land mindes. In November 3393, he was replaced by Jasmine Hastings (GNP), the former Foreign Minister under Prime Minister Delia Breckinridge. Until 3397, he kept in the background but remained an influential figure in the GNP, particularly of the marginalized traditionalist faction. However, in 3397, he was elected to Parliament again, becoming a major proponent of conservative and militarist GNP backbenchers, endorsing the pro-troops policies of Jasmine Hastings. His actual comeback was set off in 3402, when he succeeded Hastings as Deputy Prime Minister in the administration of José Gomez (Popular Party). Having kept a low profile until then, Tanaka showed increased activism as of June 3406, when he came forward with a plan to unite the competing GNP wings on controversial social issues such as same-sex marriage. His solution was based on making the definition of marriage a religious decision, however he also emphasized that "atheists and homosexuals must not fear that they might be denied recognition of their relationships, since they can autonomously define it via basing it on a legal contract between two consenting individuals. It's up to them how to call it then, even though I personally consider marriage , in the original sense of the word, something that can only exist between a man and a woman. However, I'm not a proponent of VBSM-like conservatism, I do not seek to impose my personal values through governmental coercion." Remarkably, Tanaka failed to deliver solutions on the even more controversial issue of abortion. Additionally, his marriage proposal was largely ignored by the GNP leadership. When he was chosen as GNP presidential nominee prior to the general election of 3409, there was some scepticism over his candidacy (for example, Janice LeCoultre, alongside one additional member of the leadership council spoke out against him), however confidence in his ability to attract support from both conservative and libertarian GNP factions outweighed these concerns. Tanaka's chances of winning slipped when Green Solidarity, DSP and PAC formed an electoral alliance to give a boost to their joint candidate, left-winger Marcus Allende. As most polls also predicted a massive surge for the fascist VBSM, it was expected that Tanaka would fail to make it to the runoff, trailing both Allende and VBSM candidate Alvaro Chavira. However, this trend reversed when he received the endorsement of the PP, which delivered a boost to his poll numbers. In the end, he finished second in the first round, winning 26.6 percent but trailing Allende, who received the support of 33.6% of the electorate. However, the runoff turned out to result in an unexpected landslide victory for Tanaka, winning 63.5% over his rival's 36.5%. Political analysts have asserted that the main reason for the GNP candidate's sweeping victory were the low turnout among left-wingers and Allende's views, which were deemed too radical by many observers. In his victory speech, he displayed a statesman-like attitude, vowing to "promote bipartisanship and overcome the fissures within society, created by divisive rhetoric from both the Left and the Right". During the ensuing tenure, Tanaka presided over the implementation of a political system in the Dranish Autonomous Region (DAR) which granted semi-autonomy for the mostly Kyo and Welsh people living there. In November 3412, Tanaka was re-elected, defeating Green Solidarity candidate Frank Alvarez by an eight-percent margin. In his victory speech, he stated: "I am proud to preside over the extension of our territory in Northern Dovani and the inclusion of the native Welsh and Kyo people in the DAR into our multicultural community." '' Category:Grand National Party (Dranland) politicians Category:Dranian people